Targeting Sialic Acid Residues, Filamentous Actin, and Nuclei in Rat Gastric Tissue

The sample of rat stomach tissue featured in the digital image above was labeled with Oregon Green 488 conjugated to wheat germ agglutinin, a lectin that selectively binds to sialic acid residues found in both mucoproteins and glycoproteins. The cells were also stained with Alexa Fluor 568 conjugated to phalloidin and the dye Hoechst 33342, which target the cytoskeletal filamentous actin network and nuclear DNA, respectively. Images were recorded in grayscale with a 12-bit digital camera coupled to a Nikon Eclipse 80i microscope equipped with bandpass emission fluorescence filter optical blocks. During the processing stage, individual image channels were pseudocolored with RGB values corresponding to each of the fluorophore emission spectral profiles.